Mogene Bodily- health problems in Ogden

 

 

I talked to Martha Bodily, or my mother, about the main public health issues and trends in Ogden, Utah. She is a registered nurse at an Ogden mental health clinic and has also worked in nursing homes. She told me a lot about the issues with mental illness, drug addiction, lifestyle choices, and problems related to the increase of elderly people.

     1- I was informed that there are more families affected with mental illness than there are with physical illnesses. In fact, mental illness is even more common than cancer. The most common mental illnesses are anxiety and depression, followed by schizophrenia, bipolar and personality disorders. With the problem of mental illness comes smoking. 41% of mental health patients smoke, compare that to a 21% of non-mental health patients.

           2- The second issue is drug addictions, most especially prescription drugs. Utah has one of the highest percentages of prescription drug abuse in the country. Martha told me that what commonly happens is that the doctor will prescribe a patient with a certain drug, then they get addicted. After that they can get to the point where they go to different doctors, and fake prescriptions just to get more of the drug. They find older people and break into their homes because they know they’ll likely have prescription drugs.

            3-Another issue is lifestyle choices and their results. I think obesity and inactivity, though directly connected, are two separate issues. Firstly, the rates of obesity are increasing each year, to the point where the average weight has become nearly 25 pounds heavier than it was a mere 20 years ago. This also relates to the large amount of anxiety and depression related mental illnesses in Utah. Obesity leads to other diseases, namely heart disease and diabetes.

           4- Heart disease and diabetes are key issues. Because of the increase in obesity, the risk for disease has increased. Cardiovascular diseases are the number one killers across the country, and for women, this disease kills more than the other death causes combined. Yet when someone says they have cancer there is a much bigger reaction. Cardiovascular diseases need to be talked about more often, because I don’t think people realize what a huge issue they actually are right now.

            5-The final issue I will address is the increase in elderly population. The baby boomers are reaching the age of retirement where they will need more care, and there aren’t enough resources or facilities to care for them all. Martha said that when she worked in nursing homes they were already extremely crowded. With nursing homes already quite full and not receiving quite enough of the care they need already, it will only get worse as they run out of space.